Thursday, April 17, 2008

Hope and Horror

Today, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass in a packed baseball stadium in front of 46,000 faithful Catholics. He brought with him a message of hope, charity, and reconciliation. He encouraged those in his care to go out and be a light for the world to see the love of Christ. Benedict's visit to the United States thus far has been a wonderful success. He has been greeted with love and respect everywhere he has gone.

Security for the Pope rivals that of any other world leader. This man of peace has enemies, particularly in the radical Islamic community. And as the head of the only Church Christ gave to humanity, Satan certainly stands to take great joy if something bad were to happen to Peter's successor.

Yet any evil act against this ultimate humanitarian that is Pope Benedict likely will not come from a bomb or a bullet directed at him, but rather emerge in the form of an awakening by the masses to the reality of the state in which they live. Not far from where the Pope is visiting in the city of New Haven, Connecticut home to one of America's more liberal institutions, Yale University, a tragic reminder to how deeply evil has permeated the culture is about to be put on display.

Meet art student, Aliza Shvarts. This senior at Yale is getting ready to put on display perhaps the most vile and repugnant show, all with university approval. Over the last year, Shvarts has artificially inseminated herself as many times as possible while taking a cocktail of abortifacient drugs to purposefully induce as many miscarriages as possible. She has saved the blood from these miscarriages and plans to mix the blood with petroleum jelly to keep the blood from drying; then smear the blood on clear plastic sheeting which she will then use to wrap around a large cube. On each side of the cube she will play videos that she took of herself having her miscarriages in her bathtub.

This is art at Yale University.

"I believe strongly that art should be a medium for politics and ideologies, not just a commodity," Shvarts said. "I think that I'm creating a project that lives up to the standard of what art is supposed to be."

How many souls Shvarts murdered in the name of art is anyone's guess. She is not willing to reveal that information. And while according to Shvarts art should not be a commodity, apparently human life already is. Then, too, this could all be a terribly sick and disgusting joke on her part or on the part of Yale's newspaper which published the story, today.

Out of such horror hope can still arise. For while this woman whose conscious has been shamefully deformed by her culture, her professors, and perhaps even her parents, the love of Christ remains available to her. The mercy of Christ can cover even this horrific disregard and profanation of Our Heavenly Father's greatest gift, the gift of life. Pray for the conversion of Aliza Shvarts.

Still another hope remains. Perhaps news of this barbarism towards life will make its way into the mainstream media, and thousands will be inspired to re-examine their own views on the value of life. In this way, maybe God can turn this purely evil showcase of Shvarts to the good of future generations.